The Wahkiakum County Eagle - Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891

JBH House is privately owned

This letter is in response to George Wehrfritz’s letter of April 18 in which he refers to the Julia Butler Hansen House.

I wish to clear up some misconceptions that Mr. Wehrfritz has. He is somehow under the mistaken impression that the JBH House is in the “public domain” or should be, which it is not.

It is privately owned by me and is not a public entity “largely unused by the public” as he states.

For 13 years, the Wahkiakum Community Foundation owned the house, but the foundation dissolved in 2017 and the house was returned to me.

I believe the house is of considerable historic significance to the community. It is the oldest surviving house in Wahkiakum County and Cathlamet. It has been in my family since 1885 (except for 13 years). Five generations of my family have been associated with the house.

Since 2014, I have opened the house to the public once a month from May through October, giving visitors an opportunity to see this historic house.

The house is not neglected since I am at the house nearly every week to take care of it and maintain the historic garden.

The house does not molder. It is in fairly good condition considering it is 150 plus years, having been built in 1867-1868.